Eamonn Holmes has revealed that his tax row with HMRC has cost him more than £1m and two houses – and he still owes a quarter of a million pounds.
The Northern Irish broadcaster, 65, branded HMRC as ‘thieves’ for ‘ruining him’ and revealed the saga has cost him a home in Belfast and a holiday pad in Portugal.
Eamonn – who has worked for the likes of GB News and and ITV – claimed tax officials ruled he was a staff member with broadcasters rather than freelance.
He said the tax office requested 10 years worth of back tax and national insurance as a result of the employee status change.
Eamonn claimed he has already paid over £1million back since – but despite selling his two homes still owes a whopping £250,000.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, he said: ‘And they basically, at the most vulnerable time in my life, they wrecked me financially.’
Eamonn Holmes has revealed that his tax row with HMRC has cost him more than £1m and two houses – and he still owes a quarter of a million pounds
He said he appealed the decision twice but lost both times, and then landed with huge legal fees as a result.
Eamonn has worked on TV for GB News, Sky News, ITV, BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5 and written for the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror during his career.
Eamonn also argued that telly star Lorraine Kelly managed to avoid similar tax issues by arguing she was playing a part on TV.
‘I would say, you know, I’m an actor who plays the part of Eamonn Holmes, except I’m not, I’m the same off screen as I am on screen,’ he said.
‘There’s no different persona with me.’
Last year Eamonn spoke about the tax battle and said he never received holiday or sick pay, though he said he wasn’t looking for sympathy. ‘It’s like they have taken away everything I ever worked for,’ he said in an interview with his former UTV colleague Gerry Kelly.
In response Eamonn’s tax battle at the time, a HMRC spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘We take the wellbeing of all taxpayers seriously and do everything we can for those who engage with us to get their tax affairs in order, including by offering affordable payment plans.’
It comes after Eamonn raged last month that ‘nobody cares’ about his ‘special needs’ in a new rant live on GB News.
The Northern Irish broadcaster, 65, branded HMRC as ‘thieves’ for ‘ruining him’ and revealed the saga has cost him a home in Belfast and a holiday pad in Portugal (Seen in December)
Lorraine Kelly previously escaped a £1.2 million tax bill after a judge described her as an ‘entertaining lady’ who is her own boss (Seen left last year and right on her show this month)
He has been plagued by health battles in recent years after undergoing surgery on his back in 2022, which left him reliant on a walking frame or wheelchair.
In October, the star revealed his frustration with the decline of customer service within businesses while discussing the mass internet outage by Amazon Web Services.
The presenter then admitted that he is disappointed with the lack of contact from human representatives.
He told viewers: ‘Do you know what’s so annoying?
‘I spent the weekend, and I mean the weekend, on various phone lines, and the minimum take was 40 minutes, 38 minutes, to be answered by a human being.
‘Take Apple, for instance, they will do everything to avoid you speaking to a human being.
‘Instead, they keep you [on hold] until you want to end your life.’
‘It was at this point that the broadcaster lifted the lid on the complications he faces with his disability when booking hotel rooms.
Eamonn fumed: ‘Do you know what? You can’t even phone a hotel anymore. You’ve got to go to a website, but I don’t want to go to a website.
‘I want to talk to people and explain I’ve got special needs.
‘I need a bathroom with bars so I can hold and stand up in the shower with or whatever, but you just cannot speak to anybody.
‘But nobody cares.’
